Football: Newport runs ragged over Magnolia

Tony Altobelli

NEWPORT BEACH - It’s nice to be home again.

Newport Harbor High, donning the blue uniforms, for the first time all

season, literally ran over an undermanned Magnolia squad, 55-13, Thursday

night in nonleague football.

“They were missing some guys over there,” Sailors Coach Jeff Brinkley

said of his opponents. “They had a lot of guys injured and it made it

tough for them.”

Injuries or not, the Sailors’ running trio of Andre Stewart, Ryan

Brill and Ryan Ortega had an evening not seen in Tars’ territory for some

time.

Stewart ran for 196 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries, Ortega

had 110 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Brill ran for 102

yards for the Sailors.

“I definitely don’t remember ever having three guys go for over 100

yards,” Brinkley said. “They did an outstanding job of finding the holes

and running hard.”

To say the least. Overall, Newport Harbor (4-0-1), ran for a combined

460 yards on the evening, dominating from the outset. The Tars’ net

yardage was 661.

Ironically, Newport got the offense going through the air on its first

possession, as quarterback Chris Manderino hooked up with Justin Jacobs

on a 57-yard touchdown strike.

“They came at us with eight in the box and man coverage,” Brinkley

said. “Any time you go man on man against us, we’re gonna throw and we

felt that we could get guys open for Chris to find.”

To give credit to a banged up Magnolia (1-4) club. The Sentinels threw

everything but the kitchen sink at the Sailors on the following

possession.

After a successful 49-yard flea-flicker, the Sentinels pulled out the

bag of tricks again. This time on a double-lateral pass for a 24-yard

touchdown.

“They threw some good stuff at us,” Brinkley said. “We have to do a

better job of not giving up early points, even on trick plays like that.”

After a surprising 7-7 tie through one quarter, Newport Harbor got

busy, ripping off 42 straight points to blow the game open.

Brill and Stewart combined for all 64 yards on the opening drive of

the second quarter with Stewart taking it in from 11 yards out.

From there the “Stewart Show” rose to another level.

Including the 11-yard touchdown run, the senior running back scored

on four of his last five runs, including two 58-yard scampers that

rapidly increased his game total.

In fact, Newport had four, one-play drives that resulted in

touchdowns, three on Stewart runs and one on a 43-yard touchdown pass

from Manderino to Jacobs, his second of the night.

Jacobs finished with 108 yards on three receptions, while Manderino

made the most of his four completions, throwing for 130 yards and two

TDs.

With the Sailors out in front, 42-7, Brinkley used his reserves and

they found success as well.

Ortega, who had 104 of his 110 yards in the second half scored on an

18-yard run and third-string quarterback Morgan Craig managed to get in

the end zone on a 1-yard TD run.

On the defensive side, Newport held Magnolia to only 156 yards of

total offense and had three interceptions by Jacobs, Andy Rankin and

David Sprenger. Ryan Devin also recovered a fumble for the Tars.

All was not peaches and cream for the Sailors, as they committed 16

penalties for 131 yards lost.

“We’ve got to lower our penalties,” Brinkley said. “If we commit that

many in league, we’ll be in trouble.”

Speaking of league, the Tars will open Sea View League play against

Irvine at home Friday at 7:30 p.m.

“I’m a little nervous after playing a game like this so close to

league,” Brinkley said. “I was telling my assistants that I was happy

with the intensity in the Glendora game. We’ll have to really step it up

for next week.

“We’re going to hit the buzz saw next week,” Brinkley continued. “Our

guys know what’s ahead of us. We know we’re in a tough league and our

guys have been focused on our league all season. This is what we’ve been

waiting for.”